Asterisk
by sidechain
Summary: What happens when Lucy gets left behind on a mission? Apparently, a lot. LucyGray
1. Swish and Chug

Disclaimer: Nope. Last time I checked I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

The setting—none other than the Fairy Tail head-quarters. Almost everything was normal: mages lingering while clinking jugs of beer together; Mirajane tending to droopy-eyed customers with her never-faltering smile; and Lucy staring down the mahogany counters of the bar.

Only this time she was ranting to her spirit companion Plue.

Because everything was _not_ normal.

Natsu, Happy, Gray and Erza set off to go complete a mission.

But they left her there.

"Puun…"

"I know, right? I can't believe they left us!"

"Pupuun…"

"Exactly! They didn't even bother to say goodbye to me! Err—us!" With that Lucy crossed her arms in front of her chest. Then she hung her head, "And I'm actually understanding you… what language do you speak again?"

The Stellar Spirit of Canis Minor shrugged, "Pu pu puu."

After a few more minutes of ranting, she decided that it was actually better that she skipped out this mission. She was tired enough, "Ahh, Mira-chan, I think I'm gonna head home now."

Mirajane smiled, "Okay, but here, you poor thing," She said as she handed a glass of Strawberry Daiquiri to Lucy, "Just for today."

Lucy gratefully accepted it and chugged half of it right where she was standing, "Ahh… thanks, Mira-chan; I needed that!"

Mirajane smiled sweetly, "Saa, I know, Lucy-san."

Lucy then sauntered out of Fairy Tail to her apartment, drink in hand. Plue, peering at her from the Fairy Tail doors, shook his head and poofed away. When Lucy finally got to her apartment, she was waiting to see at least one of the four intruders to be there, lying on her couch or scarfing down her month's earnings.

But no one.

Lucy walked over to her table in bittersweet relief and plopped down in a chair. She swigged the sluggish, strawberry liquid around in the crystal glass in front of her face before taking another long sip. When Lucy had finished the whole thing, she got up to stretch. "AHH! That was delicious!" She squealed as she made her way to her bed. Slipping under the covers, Lucy smiled. But, the smile disappeared as fast as it came, and she sighed, "Gah, I still feel pretty depressed being left behind from a mission on my birthday."

* * *

FAIRY TAIL

* * *

"Gray… come closer…"

"…Do you really think I'm gonna obey _that_ order?"

The setting changes to a train—yes, you already know where this is going—that is chugging to a small rural town called Shihiro. Erza had just gotten up to talk to one of the employees, leaving Happy, Gray and Natsu in their cabin. Happy was cat-napping beside a motion-sick Natsu, who was staring—droopy-eyed—at a frowning Gray.

"Please… I think I'm gonna—" Natsu covered his mouth before completing his sentence, giving away his intentions to his comrade.

Fullbuster folded his arms together and smirked, "Ha, like I'd fall for that, noob. Caught you red-handed."

"Iid _srapp_ ru rid anded iff I cood." Natsu replied behind his hand, on the verge of fainting.

Gray's smirked widened, "I can't understand you with your hands clamping your mouth shut… but I don't mind them there."

Natsu popped a vein, but could not retort due to his lack of transportation tolerance.

Gray; now satisfied over an easy win; got out of his seat and strolled down the hallway, looking for nothing in particular. He caught Erza exchanging goodbyes with a man in uniform, and he met up with her, "I think Natsu's actually gonna burst this time."

Erza stared at him, expressionless, "We're almost at our stop."

Gray was now curious, "So what was that about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nothing to worry about," said Erza, walking back to where Happy was Natsu were.

Gray pursed his lips at his partner's blunt answer, but was in no mood to argue about it. He followed Erza silently.

When they got back to their seats, Erza shook her head and Gray attempted to suppress a laugh.

Natsu was slumped over Happy, who was covered in drool, with his head in his folded arms.

Erza took her seat beside Natsu before heaving him over her thighs.

Happy shook violently to rid himself of dragon slobber, "Thanks, Erza… But five seconds earlier would have been better…"

Erza just peered over at Gray and began to talk about their mission, "Now, from what I remember; and from what that man told me earlier… This mission should be fairly simple—"

"—Thank goodness—"

"—If… Lucy doesn't show up."

Gray pursed his lips yet again, "Erza, I think she'd already be on her way if she found out we left already."

Erza glared at Gray, making him flinch, "That's why I had Mirajane put something in her drink this morning."

"You didn't… Don't tell me you made her put… _Asterisk_ in Lucy's—"

"—Just this once. It's harmless anyway."

"But—but—"

"What's the matter?"

"Well… Asterisk is what I like to call… a sort of pain reliever…"

"Okay. So…?"

Gray gulped, "More like a nerve-number… for a full… twenty-four hours…"

Erza frowned, even though she had a clear idea as to where this was going, "Gray, get to the point."

The teen sighed and gazed out the window, "Lucy won't feel any pain whatsoever for the next twenty-four hours."

Erza nodded in confirmation of her prediction...

Then she cursed.

* * *

"Mmph… Mmmmph… AH! FORGET IT!" Lucy flung the covers off of her and jumped out of her bed. She put her hands on her hips, "I'm going with them!"

Running to her closet, she quickly changed into another outfit (not necessarily one that covered more). After quickly slipping on backless tennis shoes, she went for her stellar keys. Grabbing them from the table, she then searched for her whip, "Aha. There you are," she said as she spotted it on a hook on her cupboard. She gripped it to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge.

"Dang you, whip!" After a small struggle, she yanked it from the hook, curled it up, and attached it to her shorts, "Gotcha!"

Maneuvering to her door, she spotted a blotch of red on the floor, "Huh? What's this?" She figured it was blood, and she looked up at the ceiling, "What happened?"

Then, she put her hand up to her face, and sure enough, she felt something warm, "EHH?!" Back tracking to her mirror, she peered inside, "Whoa. How did I not feel that?"

The gash on her cheek was noticeable from about thirty feet away. The mark her whip made was about a pencil length, running diagonally from the middle of her nose and her left eye to the far left end of the bottom of her face. Blood seeped out like a trickling hose not completely turned off. Lucy grabbed the nearest towel, "Dang it dang it dang it! Why now?! Stinkin' whip!"

* * *

Gray shook his head, "I remember when someone poured a little in my drink… Whenever I got scratched or punched I couldn't feel anything. I lost so much blood without noticing that I passed out after an hour. The only funny part about it was watching Natsu get frustrated that he couldn't hurt—"

"—What?"

It took a moment for Gray to realize what he'd just muttered, "I—I—I mean—"

Saving Gray from having to make a cover-up, Happy jumped in front of Erza, "We're at our stop!"

Erza glared at the cat (or at Gray through him) and whispered, "I know... Let's go."

* * *

(To Be Continued)

* * *

This was just a little introduction chapter to see if I was adequate enough to do these kinds of fanfictions..

Feedback is encouraged. :) If you want me to continue, that's fine; you guys will just have to wait for further chapters because, well.. Ike just swung his sword across the whole East Texas coast (Thankfully not over my area), and there's school to be attended soon, and all these things. I'm asian, too, so you got intense studying going on here. (insert pout) Just telling you the truth. XD

Check with you guys later!

Oh oh oh, haha guess what Natsu was saying to Gray behind his hand, and I might just give you a cookie. Not talking about the bad ones, the good ones. :)


	2. Like a Sailboat

* * *

Whoop's.. Had to go back to redo this chapter (not really, just the header and footer messages and the break lines) due to me updating so late last night. Since I finished my load of homework so early (and yes, 12 is early in homework time), I decided to write. And then after that I was way too tired, but for the sake of you guys I uploaded it anyway. ^^ Sorry for [hopefully not] further updates; you're reviews were the pinnacle of my motivation and I did consider all of them (as I will continue to do). Thank you for the [surprisingly] awesome feedback! :D I really did not think my story could rack up even 5 reviews to tell you the truth. I just started writing this story with no intention of it being as good as it is (or as good as it seems? . . .) Well, anyways, thanks for the feedback again and I hope you will all enjoy this next chapter as much as I enjoyed typing / writing it. ^^

* * *

Lucy raced to Fairy Tail headquarters; her brows furrowed and her mind racing. When she got there she crashed through the wooden doors, "MIRA-CHAAAN!"

The sober mages skeptically looked in her direction, cocking an eyebrow at the gash adorning her face. She stared them down as Mirajane called her, "Aha Lucy-sa—Ah! What happened to…your face…?" She didn't need an explanation to tell that the _Asterisk _was already working. The bartender promised Erza she would keep her mouth shut about this.

Because breaking a promise to Erza is not exactly the right thing to do.

Lucy stomped over to the bar counter and whispered a little too harshly, "Where did they go, Mira-chan?"

Mirajane smiled sweetly and replied, not having to ask Lucy who she was talking about, "They went to Shihiro, Lucy-san!"

Lucy stomped her foot and raised her left hand, assuming the 'Eureka!' stance, "YOSH! Then I'm going to SHIHIRO! ..." After a moment of realization and consistent blinking, she slumped and turned around, "Does anyone know how to get to Shihiro from here?"

A few of the mages laughed and leaned back, "Haha! Lucy-san! Are you okay?"

"Come on, have a drink!"

"You can sit over here, princess."

"Grab a barrel-Whoa."

Lucy gaped at the woman who was just gulping up liquor from one of the gigantic jugs, and sweatdropped when she almost toppled over the other barrel she was sitting on, "No, no, I'm okay…"

Mirajane smiled, "Lucy-san should rest on her birthday. Take a nap."

Lucy cocked her eyebrow again, sensing something wrong. She then leaned over the counter and inspected Mirajane's face, "Hmmm…"

Mirajane kept her non-diminishing smile, "Ano, Lucy-san?"

"…Nothing…" Lucy tilted her head, "You just seem really…odd, Mira-chan."

"What does Lucy-san mean?"

Lucy scrunched her nose and scrutinized Mirajane's face once more, "… Are you hiding something, Mira-chan?"

Fortunately, Mirajane knew how to handle these situations pretty deftly. Keeping her eyes bright and shimmering and her smile ever-warm, she just shook her head in innocent rejection, "Nothing from Lucy-san!" She then swerved one-eighty degrees, swiped two empty jugs, filled them to the brim with beer, swerved back the other one-eighty, and slid them down the bar counter to two men about to order exactly what she delivered. They stood stock still, unblinking at the two perfectly filled kegs. Looking at one another, they just smirked, shrugged and grabbed their pre-prepared orders shouting simultaneously, "Thanks, Mira-san!"

"Ah!" Mirajane cheered back as they made their way to a table near the bar. She then turned back to Lucy, "Nothing at all, Lucy-san."

Lucy, too stunned at Mirajane's precision just now, laughed out loud, "Mira-chan! How did you—"

"—Practice, practice, Lucy-san!" The bartender explained, relieved of the well-timed tangent, "I guess I've been doing this job for so long that I'm kind of familiar with everyone's orders."

"Kind of?" Lucy giggled, shaking her head. Pulling a stool over, she then crossed her arms over the counter while smiling sweetly, "Okay, I guess I can ditch one mission."

"But, weren't you the one—"

"—Who _got_ ditched, yes—but, now I ditched them, so _ha_!" As soon as she said that, a booming sound reached their ears. When they turned, they saw one of the guild members atop a table shouting,

"Give it back, punk! Don't make me come down there!"

It was one of the men who just got served by Mirajane. He was shouting to the other, who replied questioningly,

"But didn't you just jump up there?"

"Just give me my mission back!"

"You said you didn't want to do it! You gave it to me—"

"—_That_, is because I didn't count the zeros correctly," shouted man atop the table, biting every word.

The other just responded calmly with a slight smile, "Oi, just get off the table, Jaigon; you're not even drunk. Or at least you didn't drink much."

The said Jaigon huffed; but then his eyes flashed. He then looked around in wonder, "Wha…" Pondering why everyone was lower than him, he looked to his feet, which were glued to the wooden table, "…Why am I on the table?" Holding his head with his left arm, Jaigon then vaulted himself off the wooden surface and slid back into his seat, sagging with all the eyes staring at him just then. He gazed at his friend, "Sai-Gon, why was I…"

"Hey, don't ask me," Sai Gon chuckled, swishing his jug.

Which, in fact, was still full.

Mirajane noticed this, and gulped.

_Did I put Aster—_

"—Mira-chan, what just happened?"

"Dyuh, uh… Huh?"

Lucy waved her hand in front of Mirajane's wide eyes, snapping her back to the conversation, "Haha, you look confused Mira-chan. I thought you were used to these kinds of situations!" She chuckled, but then looked back to the two men, whispering aside, "Even though that one was pretty weird and awkward, right, Mira—" She turned back to face-

No one.

Lucy blinked, "Mira-chan?"

* * *

FAIRY TAIL 2

* * *

"Natsu… Hey, Natsu! …Wake up, _blondie_!" Natsu opened his eyes, but only to let them get smashed by Gray's toes; definitely not the perfect, serene awakening usually desired by fire-breathing humans. But since when do they get _those_?

A vein popped at once, "The heck?! I'm not even blonde, you ignorant—"

"—Who? Me? Excuse me, but it's not my fault I mistook you for a blonde since you act so much like one—"

"—Thanks for the wake up call! I'd rather wake up to your oh-so-sweet smelling toes than your FACE _any_ day—"

"—Ha! I was doing you a favor! I didn't just _own _you in the face right then; I kicked all that dragon slobber that was lingering on it five generations _back_—"

"—Well that's just super! I'll remind them to say 'hi' to your dead brain cells while they're there, okie-_dokie_?!"

At this, it was Gray who then popped a vein. His hands froze completely, "That's it!"

Natsu's hands, on the other hand, flamed, "Bring it!"

"Oi, what are you two—" Erza came in to see Natsu and Gray inches away from each others' face, hands still full of magic. Their eyes caught sight of her, but they could not move in the presence of Defeat staring them in the face. Her eyes turned into slits, and her voice dropped three notes on the staff, "Get off. The train."

Simultaneous curses could be heard after Erza turned back to unload.

* * *

"Pu pu pu pupuu?"

"What am I doing? I'm looking for missions of course!"

"Pu pu pupuu?"

Lucy sighed, "Yes, on my birthday. It's not like I have anything else to do around here…Since everyone's deciding to ditch me today…" Lucy sighed and grabbed the nearest stool to slump on. Plue looked at her, and then jumped up into her lap. Lucy gave her stellar spirit a slight smile.

"Okay, okay. Everyone but you," Lucy chuckled.

Meanwhile, Mirajane was scouring the back room with quick hands. She looked everywhere for the little vile that held the _Asterisk_ in it. She was trying to reassure herself that she put it back, but every time she thought about it, she was less convinced. Finally walking back out calmly to the bar, she peered over the jugs that held the liquid that she poured into those two guys' kegs. As if planned, she saw the little vile of Asterisk floating in the jug—the little cork cap floating beside it.

Mirajane somewhat panicked, meaning if you saw her, you would not suspect her to be. Gracefully gliding back to the little storage room, she then tried to find something, "Saa… Where is it? …Where is it? …Where is it—"

"—Something wrong, Mira-chan?"

Mirajane turned to see Makarov with his little staff beside him. Even she was lost for words when she wasn't expecting the elder, "I-I-I—"

"It's okay, Mira-chan. I won't bite." Makarov soothed, eyes twinkling, "Well, depends."

* * *

Okay then. Sorry for not putting in the break lines T__T That was my mistake; now this story will go a lot smoother for you guys. Thank for reading again and if you want me to continue let me know! -sidechain


	3. The City Behind the Horizon

Note: Wow, the feedback I got from this story is amazing after so long. I'm terribly sorry for the abrupt cut-off of this story, and I hope you will forgive me. I would like to give cookies to everyone that guessed what Natsu said correctly, which was "I'd slap you red-handed if I could." Yay! You guys are good. Anyways, I hope you guys are still holding on! Your reviews have lifted me back onto my feet, and the Fairy Tail OST really got to me over the past few days. If you guys have not listened to it yet, I seriously recommend it! And sorry if the characters seem OOC in this chapter. It's been a while, so I have to get back into the swing of things. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fairy Tail._

* * *

Erza, Gray, Happy, and a gagging Natsu emerged from the train, looking out across the vast expanse of nothingness that awaited them. In the far distance was the vivid horizon.

Fullbuster rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "What the heck is this?"

The redhead turned to look at him with her frowning face and said matter-of-factly, "This is Shihiro."

Natsu regained the color back in his face, or rather got rid of it, and raised an eyebrow, "I don't see a town anywhere. All I see is dirt and grass."

Erza sighed, then started to pace left and right, head still looking towards the horizon. Gray and Natsu stared at her without saying a word, and blinked a couple times when she would stop and bend down to look for something in thin air. All of a sudden, Erza stopped a couple steps beside them and reached out in front of her. The two boys stared in shock as she pulled what looked like a piece of the horizon back, making the sight in front of them seem like a cover sheet. What they were looking at was actually a shield enhanced with magic to look like the land in the far distance.

Gray's and Natsu's jaws dropped to the ground while Happy pounced up to the incredible shield, poking it with his paws, "Natsu, you should come look at this!"

Erza, not wanting to waste any precious time, urged them to progress through the wall, "Let's go. We don't have much time until Lucy reaches us."

Gray was first to follow her and asked, "How did you know this was the way in?"

"I asked the man on the train. He's from Shihiro," the girl then craned her neck towards Natsu, "Let's go, Natsu! Happy!"

The two of them replied with a 'yes' before jogging through the wall.

* * *

FAIRY TAIL 3

* * *

Lucy finally ripped a piece of paper off the board to look at, and her and Plue sat down on a nearby table to think about it, "Plue?"

The Spirit smiled at her and nodded, "Puu?"

Lucy smiled back sweetly, glad that at least one person wasn't ditching her on her birthday. Even Mirajane indirectly did, which made Lucy pout a bit. She reached out and petted Plue's head a couple times, and she turned back to the paper and said, "I wonder why they ditched me…"

Plue said nothing but hopped into her lap, looking at the paper with her. It was a simple retrieval mission of a cat which only rewarded two-hundred yen, so the Spirit of Canis Minor wondered why his master would choose it. Maybe she wasn't entirely there today. He looked up at her and studied her forlorn face, and his smile turned upside down. Feeling bad for Lucy, he grabbed her hand, jumped off of her lap, and dragged her to the doors of Fairy Tail.

"Whaa? Plue, what are you—"

"Pu pupu pupu puu!"

"We're going after them? You sure?" Lucy stumbled after the short little dog in disbelief. She wondered what was going on because she thought he was against the idea of her going after the trio. Plue just kept walking without a word, though, so Lucy let him drag her all the way to the train.

* * *

Since Makarov had distracted Mirajane, she wasn't able to stop Lucy from leaving Fairy Tail. The head honcho had no idea he was doing something that could put everyone in danger.

His eyes kept on twinkling as hestudied the girl's face, "Mira-chan, what's the matter? You seem flushed."

In the room you could see the different flasks and bottles of beautifully colored liquids, all sitting on different shelves. The names on the different containers were all worn from use after use, and the mixed aroma of magic and chemicals spread through the atmosphere, seemingly weighing it down massively.

At least, to Mirajane.

The pretty bartender kept her smile, but she spoke hesitantly, "Uhh, you see…" She was wondering whether she should just flat out say it or beat around the bush. With Makarov, there was no playing around no matter how jolly he may seem.

Makarov held his cane and nodded, "Uh, huh. Go on…?"

Mirajane thought over the consequences: either she could tell a lie and let him deal with her later when he found out, or she could tell him right now and be pulverized just by his gaze on her alone. He would be furious if he knew what she had done. _Asterisk _is Fairy Tail's most impressive and potent spell. To have the ability to numb a person's nerves for that long takes a great deal of skilled synthesis, and Fairy Tail had only two bottles.

Well, only one now.

But should Makarov know that? Will he explode? Very likely. Alas, the poor girl could not keep the secret in anymore. She knew she was in deep trouble, but there was no way of hiding anything from the master, "I accidently put the _Asterisk _in the wine barrel."

The little man's smile cracked, and he whispered, "…How unfortunate."

* * *

"Hey, Natsu, come look at this," Gray and Natsu were following behind Erza as they walked through the magical town of Shihiro. On both sides of the dirt road, there were booths and market stands selling various objects and spells. Gray was at a stand when something caught his eye: a little person. He picked it up, and threw it a couple times into the air.

Natsu walked over to him when the lady at the booth snatched away the doll from Gray before he could catch it again.

Fullbuster frowned, "Rude."

The lady scowled and picked up the tray full of dolls before scuttling to the back of the stand. Natsu stood beside Gray, wide-eyed, "Gray, were you playing with one of those?"

"Yeah, what about it, firecrotch?" Behind him you could hear Happy laughing his head off.

Natsu steamed, "What the hell did you just call me?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Natsu! Gray! Get a move on!" Erza's voice sent chills down both boys' spines, and they quickly simmered down their rising argument. When they started walking again, Natsu spoke to Gray while still looking ahead,

"Gray, those were _voodums_."

The dark-haired boy looked at him, "Don't you mean 'voodoo dolls,' pinhead?"

Natsu glared at him seriously, giving Gray a bad feeling in his stomach.

Happy replied for Natsu, "_Voodums_. They're dolls that can not only control what a person does, but what they think and say. The worst part is…"

His pausing was due to Erza suddenly stopping in the middle of the street. She held out her hand to stop the two boys and cat from moving forward, and she walked to a nearby stand that had purple drapes and tablecloth on it. She searched it furiously, and finally found what she was looking for.

It was a_ voodum_.

Of Lucy.

Natsu and Gray ran over to her, and they stared at it in amazement. Natsu looked at the redhead, "Erza, why does Lucy have a _voodum_?"

Erza hushed them, and felt the doll being snatched out of her hand. She turned to the owner of the doll, and furrowed her brows, "Give that back."

The owner was a tall man dressed in a dark purple coat that had vertical stripes on it. He had one of those eye-wears that were only for one eye and connected to a chain, and he had a cane with a snakehead on the top of it. His shoes were pointed boots, and he was wearing leather pants. His facial features reminded one of a clown, and his straight hair was pitch black with green tips, coming down to his shoulder. He looked down at Erza with a smirk, "You're the one that took it from me, missy."

Erza's vein popped at the nickname. How dare this stranger call her that, "If I'm not mistaken, you took it from its rightful owner."

The man snickered, "Oh ho ho, and who might this 'rightful owner' be?"

Erza stared him straight in the eye, not blinking for a second. Her words were icy enough to freeze the man in his place if he weren't so oblivious. Dripping poison from each word, she answered him,

"It's rightful owner, is Fairy Tail."

Natsu and Gray looked at each other, mouths gaping.

Happy didn't know what to say, so he looked at Salamander, "Natsu?"

Natsu blinked a couple times before whispering to Gray and Happy, "Come to think of it, Erza never told us what this mission was really about."

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Note: Thank you all for reading! I'm also wondering why this fanfiction hasn't grown much since I've been gone. I expected Fairy tail FF to be in the top list, but I was really thrown for a loop. Well, what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Let me know! Reviews are yummy!

Guys, if you don't review, I'm going to assume you don't like it and you don't want me to continue! (pouts) Just leave a review telling me how it was, okay? Thanks!


	4. Purple Snakeskin

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fairy Tail._

* * *

The man in the purple coat threw his head back and laughed. Then, he looked back down and gave them a stare. "Well, not anymore it's not." He started walking away, but from behind him he heard the sound of fire cackling, ice growing and the sound of a sword being unsheathed. The whole street saw the trio with their weapons, and they started to flee and hide in their houses. Soon, the streets were empty save for the man in the purple coat and the trio plus flying cat.

Stopping in his tracks, he spoke without turning back, "So, you intend to fight me for it, eh? That's not a very good idea, you know."

Happy came up from behind Natsu, "Why not, you old man?"

The man gave a small chuckle like a villain laughing softly to himself, "You can fight me all you want, but if you suddenly harm this doll… Well, it wouldn't be _my _fault the girl dies, now would it?"

Happy furrowed his brows and looked at Natsu. He and Gray growled while Erza just kept a calm composure. She pointed her sword to him and spoke deathly slow, "Give us the voodum and we won't hurt you."

The man laughed yet again, "You'll hurt me? How?"

Erza then yelled, "Natsu! Gray!"

The man gasped and tried to turn around, but it was too late. Gray had already frozen his legs down and Natsu grabbed the guy's coat and showed him a fist. They stayed like that, poised and ready to strike him without warning. They had him pinned.

But all of a sudden, the man laughed hysterically.

Gray, Natsu, Happy and Erza all looked at each other with confused looks. The man must be stronger than they imagined. He threw his cane onto the ground and called out in the tone of a boy calling his dog, "Ohhh, Lucyyy…"

Erza took a step back and positioned her sword in defense mode, and Happy started to fly backwards away from the cane. _Is he talking about the doll? Or…_

Suddenly, to answer her question, the cane started to transform into a snake. It was small at first, but then it got bigger and bigger until it was about three stories high. It showed its fangs as it open its mouth with a fiery hiss and slithered its body in a coil. The snake was the same dark purple as the guy's coat, and the tip of its body was green.

Natsu slapped his forehead, "Are you _kidding _me?"

Happy deadpanned, "We're dead."

Gray muttered to himself, "I didn't sign up for _this_!"

* * *

FAIRY TAIL 4

* * *

Lucy was now on the train, not knowing where to go. She tried finding someone who saw a trio of two boys and one girl from a guild called Fairy Tail, but no one knew what she was talking about. She went up to a boy working on the train, and she asked, "Excuse me?"

The guy turned around; it was the same guy Erza was talking to.

Lucy was lucky.

"Yes, mam?"

"Umm, did you happen to see a group of people here, the girl had red hair, there was a boy with no shirt on, and a boy that looked really sick with a blue cat?"

Instead of looking at her like she was crazy, the man just smiled, "Oh, yeah, I remember! They stopped not too far from where we're headed."

Lucy fist pumped, "Yes! Can you tell me where they went?"

The boy nodded, "They went to Shihiro."

Lucy put her chin in her hand, then shook her head, "I have no idea where that is."

The boy laughed, "It's okay! It's our next stop. You want to know a secret?"

Lockheart blinked eyes and nodded, "What?"

The guy whispered, "It's hidden."

Lucy couldn't contain her excitement, "Really? How?"

The man proceeded to tell her about the way Shihiro was shrouded in a huge magical wall that looked like the distant landscape. The ultimate defense mechanism. Lucy's eyes sparkled the whole time.

* * *

Over in the town, the man suddenly held Lucy's voodum in his hands and held it out in front of him. Erza widened her eyes and looked at Natsu, calling, "Natsu!" The boy looked at the voodum, and was about to punch the man, but the man suddenly gave it a squeeze.

* * *

While Lucy was talking to the train person, she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. She gasped and held her hands to her chest, and the man's eyes widened, "Are you okay? Miss?"

Lucy choked out, "My name… is…" She tried to cough to regain her breath, but to no avail.

The man looked at her, "What's your name, miss? Try to breathe! Slow breaths!"

* * *

Erza couldn't stand it anymore, "You bastard!" She zipped forward and tried to get to the man that held the voodum, but the snake slithered in her way. It hissed at her, and she knew that she was going to have to get through it to challenge the man.

Natsu tried to grab the voodum from the guy's hand, but he kept moving his arm around so that he couldn't get it. Gray then reached up to freeze his arm up to his hand, and Natsu snatched the voodum from his fingers. The man growled and tried to free his arm from the ice. After retrieving the voodum, Gray and Natsu ran back to Erza to reinforce her.

The man finally broke out of the ice, and he walked forward slowly. He had the evilest look in his eye.

* * *

Lucy finally regained her breath, and the guy helped her up. "You okay, miss?"

Everyone that was looking at her finally exhaled their breath. The whole boxcar was nervous about her state. She took short gasps as if she had just ran two miles straight, "I'm… I'm fine. Thanks…"

The man smiled, "My name is Ryuuji."

Lucy gave him a small smile, "Lucy."

The man's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and he bowed, "Nice to meet you, Lucy. The train will be stopping soon. Once you get to your stop, go a few steps forward and two steps to the right. There you will find a small crack in the wall. That's how you can get in."

Lucy nodded, "Thanks, Ryuuji!"

She walked back to her seat, and the man looked at her for a moment before walking the other way.

* * *

Makarov was pacing the floor back and forth. He knew that Lucy was in a dire situation if she were to go outside.

_If she were to go outside_.

The man then looked at Mirajane, "Where is Lucy?"

Mirajane stuttered, "She should b—be here."

The little man then disappeared and reappeared at the top of the Fairy Tail house, looking down at the mages. Scanning quickly, he didn't see Lucy anywhere in sight. He muttered under his breath, "She went to find them. That's not good."

He went back to Mirajane and started to push her back out to the bar. He spoke while doing so, "She went to go find them."

"What?"

"Yes, so now there will be some problems…"

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Note: Yay! The Fairy Tail fanfiction has certainly grown! I hope you guys still read this! I'm sorry for the late updates, but thanks for reading! Continue, or not to continue? Your choice.


	5. An Explosive Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fairy Tail._

Note: Here's a surprise for everyone! An update! Thanks for sticking around and for the wonderful reviews! They are really encouraging!

* * *

"Natsu! Gray! Let's go!"

Erza didn't need to tell them twice to get them moving. As soon as they had Lucy's _voodum_ in tow, the group hightailed it down the main street of the city. Natsu looked over his shoulder as they ran, watching as the dark man in the cloak and his slithering friend closed up on them, the man was on the snake's back and he did not look happy in the slightest.

Turning to Erza, Natsu yelled, "Are we gonna make it?"

The fiery swordswoman shot back, "Not if you're running _that _slow!"

The man in the dark violet coat bellowed, "You think you can just run away? Fools!"

Carts crashed and various fruits and artifacts sailed through the air as the giant snake twisted and turned through the street. The tearing of the tarps and smashing of the buildings reached the Fairy Tail guild members with great clarity. To spare them some time, Gray turned on his heel, aimed at the street, and froze it over with a slick sheet of ice. However, the snake proved too strong for the obstacle, ripping it apart with its deadly scales.

With severe absence of tact Natsu took the opportunity to shoot Gray an insult. "You're terrible at diversions!"

"Shut up! Let's see you do better, idiot!"

Natsu halted right in his tracks and blew fire straight out of his mouth towards the looming monster. The snake squirmed in agony, hissing in discomfort. While it was distracted, Gray shot another stream of ice onto its stomach, freezing it to the cobblestones below.

Erza ran straight for the barrier, mind racing to come up with a solution to break it in time for them to escape. Clutching the voodum in her hand, she was careful enough not to squeeze it. Even though she was happy that the _Asterisk _potion sealed off Lucy's nerves, even though that was unbeknownst to her, she knew that the poor girl suffered from that squeeze. She thanked God that the man didn't do anything that caused blood loss; Lucy wouldn't have felt anything.

She also felt the pang of guilt for leaving her on her birthday. But this mission was dangerous, and since it was Lucy's _voodum_ they were fetching, it was kind of a no-brainer to have her stay at home. As soon as they got back to the guild, Erza was determined to seek out the bastard that sold her _voodum_ to this lecherous fiend. And she had questions for Makarov, too.

_Why in the world would he make such a thing?_

Happy dived down to her, interrupting her thoughts, and called out, "Erza! What are we going to do about the barrier?"

"I'm working on it!"

Gray and Natsu rendezvoused with her after their failed attempt at holding up the slithering menace. The three almost got to the outer wall of the city, and from the looks of it, it wasn't going to be easy to smash through.

Happy zipped ahead above them and shouted down, "The barrier's coming up close! I don't think we'll break it in time!"

Thinking up a plan right then and there, Erza barked, "Natsu, Gray, as soon as we get close enough to the perimeter I want you to aim your attacks at the same place in the wall, you hear me?"

"Right!"

"Sure thing!"

The snake was getting closer and closer, and if Erza's plan didn't work out they were going to have some problems.

* * *

FAIRY TAIL 5

* * *

The train finally made it to the town of Shihiro, and the bell-hopper approached Lucy to tell her that this was her stop. "Miss, I believe this is your stop."

The girl shot out of her seat, a look of fierce determination on her face. If her friends were here, she was going to give them hell for ditching her today of all days. She was expecting some nice, quality time with them at the pub or a local diner, but what did she get? A hefty helping of abandonment from the closet friends she's ever had.

And that was when she felt incredibly small.

As she watched the train depart the station, she suddenly felt really alone. What if her friends weren't here? What if that boy was lying? She had no idea how to get home! And to top it all off,

"Where's the town?"

Suddenly she remembered what the boy Ryuuji said on the train.

_The guy whispered, "It's hidden."_

_Lucy couldn't contain her excitement, "Really? How?"_

"_Well, the city is actually behind a giant solid curtain that distorts a person's vision. You see the distant horizon, but what you really see is the barrier of the city."_

"_How do I get in if I can't see it?"_

"_Well, you have to peek at it a bit closer. In the wall, there are some miniscule cracks that show you where openings are. I can't tell you exactly how to find it because I don't have much experience with the place, but they that the cracks are placed where the ground has shadows."_

"_Thanks! I'll be sure to remember that!"_

"Wow, Lucy. Way to forget as soon as you got off the train." She berated herself from not thinking about it sooner. After she got over it, she started searching for the cracks…

* * *

"Erza, we're getting a bit close!"

"I know!"

"Shouldn't we hit it now?"

"Hold on!"

The three were about a couple hundred feet away from the wall when they two boys started to panic. The snake was deathly close, and the wall looked farther away than ever. If they couldn't get a straight shot soon they were done for.

Suddenly, Erza unsheathed her sword in one graceful arc and gripped it with both hands. Dashing straight for the barrier, she shouted back, "Gray, Natsu, NOW!"

Two spirals of ice and flame swirled towards the wall at blinding speed, and both struck the wall right in front of Erza. A huge crack emitted from the impact, and soon after there was a resounding swing of a sword breaking stone. The wall surrendered to Erza as it came crashing down in an arch.

They ran straight through the hole in the wall.

* * *

After a few agonizing minutes of searching an invisible wall, Lucy gave up. She folded her arms and tapped her foot on the ground. Maybe she should just wait until they were out of there.

Bad choice. But how would she know?

She had a lot on her mind, too. Revenge took up most of her thoughts.

But some of them were about someone she would always think about; someone always without a shirt on. It didn't really occur to her when she started thinking about this particular man. Maybe she was so entranced by how calm and collected he was, or maybe it was the fact that even though he had control over such a fierce element he was still so warm underneath. Just something about him made her stomach turn every time he walked into the room. It was a very foreign feeling.

But right now he just made her want to kick a puppy.

How could they all ditch her on her birthday? Seriously? Why can't she have civilized, considerate friends?

Oh, yeah, she was part of the most obnoxious guild in the entire world.

But she wouldn't have it any other way.

Exiting the train with that one positive thought in mind, Lucy almost felt happy for a few moments…

If it wasn't for the sudden explosion of the horizon's ripping in front of her and a solid body slamming into hers.

"Wha—!" Everything was a blur, and the girl found herself flat on the ground with something very huge pinning her body to the ground.

"Lucy, what…?"

She knew that voice. "Gray?" Lucy threw her chin up and looked straight into Fullbuster's eyes. He had a weird look on his face, one of shock and disbelief. But, was he blushing?

Suddenly she heard Erza's voice close on the right. "Gray, get Lucy up and run!"

Natsu's voice could be heard right after hers. "Are you stupid? Get up!"

Gray shouted a retort before jumping up and heaving Lucy up with him. "Let's go, Lucy!"

"What's going on?"

All of a sudden, Lucy heard a huge hissing sound followed by a tremor of laughter. Turning around, she peered up behind her.

There was a snake.

A big ass snake.

She screamed.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Note: Thanks for reading! Tell me how it was! And review for the LucyxGray action coming up very sooon. Finally!


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